Lynn Shelton should feel right at home at Sundance, where her previous efforts Humpday and Your Sister's Sister (one of my favorite movies of last year) found plenty of fans. Shelton was known for a very specific thing, and something that is right up Sundance's snow-packed alley. Both her features are considered "mumblecore," a movement of modern film defined by small casts (and usually smaller budgets), improvised scripts, and real life situations. Her latest movie, Touchy Feely is not that. It's also not as good but, in the long run, that could be a good thing.
This movie, like Your Sister's Sister stars the always amazing Rosemary DeWitt as Abby, a massage therapist who, days after agreeing to move in with her sweet slacker boyfriend Jesse (the dreamy Scoot McNairy) develops an intense aversion to touching anyone. That's like a McDonald's fry cook developing an allergy to whatever it is they put in those fries. Abby then moves in with her brother Paul (Josh Pais) a sad-sack dentist whose daughter (Ellen Page, sporting the world's worst haircut) works with him, is in love with Jesse, and wants to get out of the house but doesn't know how. Oh, and Paul has developed a magic touch, reenergizing his floundering practice by miraculously healing his patients.
As you can see, the cast is much larger than Shelton's usual two to three actors and the script is written rather than made up on the spot. It seems that Ms. Shelton is turning into a "real" filmmaker. It's not without mixed results. While there are many shots that are fantastic (especially the depiction of skin when Abby starts her anxiety) the narrative lacks a bit of form. Strangely enough trying to impose structure over her usual process has made it a bit more scattershot and less focused. It's a little bit all over the place, with several stories fighting for control, but the characters are so winning and the actors are all so good that you enjoy the time you spend with them anyway.
Ultimately this is a story about reiki, the Eastern art of energy manipulation which Paul and Abby learn from Bronwen (an underused Alison Janney), a friend of Abby's who seems to be the only one with her life all together. Each of the characters longs for connection and to heal something that has happened to them: Abby needs to work through her relationship phobias, Paul needs to open up to new experiences, and his daughter, Ellen Paige With a Bad Haircut, needs to get over her crush and move on with her life. Their proximity to other people, whether physically touching or not, altars their energy and the connections they find and sever with other people lead them to be able to connect both to themselves and their loved ones.
This is not the best movie Shelton has presented at Sundance, but it is definitely the most ambitions. With that ambition and her innate humanistic portraits of people in need it makes me a little sad that this isn't her masterpiece but it assures me that, if this movie isn't great, then the next one is bound to be amazing.
Follow Brian Moylan on Twitter @BrianJMoylan
More:
James Franco Had a Lot of Sex at Sundance Last Night
Daniel Radcliffe Proves Himself a Star in Sundance's 'Kill Your Darlings'
Can't We Get Sundance Star Jennifer Coolidge Her Own Movie Already?
From Our Partners:
Child Stars: Where Are They Now? (Celebuzz)
Craziest Celebrity Swimsuits (Celebuzz)

What are the two most dangerous places in the world? Just going by a whole bunch of independent movies those two places are undoubtedly corporate America and suburban America. Movies as wildly diverse and incompatible as Revolutionary Road American Psycho Fight Club and Office Space all tell us that the suburbs and your typical corporate workplace are soul-sucking snake pits where ambition thrives and creativity dies. Price Check director Michael Walker’s first film since the Jeff Daniels thriller Chasing Sleep twelve years ago goes where oh-so-many films have gone before it and fully embraces these twin clichés to its smug satisfaction and our boredom.
Pete (Eric Mabius) is a likable thirtysomething Everydude in suburban Long Island supporting a wife and toddler son by working a dead-end marketing job for what appears to be the Dunder-Mifflin of supermarket chains. He’d rather be working for a record label like he did right out of Dartmouth but everyone keeps telling him “the music industry is dead.” Pete’s the kind of guy who likes to roll up his sleeves to show everyone how hard he’s working while being too much of a "nice guy " as his new boss Susan (Parker Posey) tells him to climb up the corporate ladder. Even if he were to land a vice president job at the chain he’d turn it down so he could spend more time with his family. Yeah. Right. But that is what he tells himself. With him and his wife always scrounging to meet each month’s mortgage payment and fending off phone calls from creditors Pete could really use a higher-paying job.
(Un)Luckily enough for him when Susan’s brought in from Los Angeles to head up the office and turn the supermarket’s fortunes around—“Our stores look like time vaults from 1985 ” she says—she sets her sights on Pete. Susan sees potential in him she says and quickly makes him her VP…and go-to lackey to implement her ambitious new ideas into a workplace culture that’s severely complacent. Queen of the Indies Posey devours the monochromatic office-space scenery by doing all the things corporate goons who are super confident and super vulgar do: perpetually chewing gum downing Pepto Bismol as if it were scotch performing drunken karaoke obsessing over the fact that someone went to Dartmouth actually saying things like “I’m PMS-ing ” laughing at her underling’s ratty suit then buying him a $6 000 one. For the latter she could only have upped her obnoxiousness quotient if she’d pulled a Gob Bluth and said “Who do you want to look like: the guy in the $6 000 suit or the guy who doesn’t make that in two months? Come on!” In short Posey's neurotic Weimaraner owner and Kama Sutra practitioner in Best in Show is a more subtle character.
Susan takes Pete on a corporate trip to Los Angeles to give her higher-ups a status update on how the new proposals she’s implemented have enhanced productivity. It’s not spoiling anything to say based on the index of clichés already enumerated that they get quite a bit closer during the trip and Pete’s life becomes even more stressful as a result.
Like his put-upon magazine editor Daniel Meade on Ugly Betty Eric Mabius is a likable low-key actor even if his Pete seems more like a character written for Jason Bateman. He does the best with the material given him but the central dilemma facing Pete—to follow his youthful dreams to his family’s financial detriment or pursue material comfort at the cost of his self-respect—has been expressed so many times before. And so many times better. Price Check’s sole insight is that people who live on Long Island do eat exclusively at TGI Fridays. Any menu item at that wonderful restaurant is more satisfying than this film.
Follow Christian Blauvelt on Twitter @Ctblauvelt

The other day, we got a look at the list of competitors in the upcoming Sundance Film Festival. But we've also got ourselves a fair share of promising premieres, with a slew of stars and directors alike that we're sure to get excited over.
Some of the big names we'll be seeing at this year's Sundance include Bradley Cooper, Zoe Saldana, Olivia Wilde and Jeremy Irons in The Words, Bruce Willis and Catherine Zeta-Jones in Lay the Favorite, Kirsten Dunst, Isla Fisher, Lizzy Caplan and Adam Scott in Bachelorette, Julie Delpy and Chris Rock in the Delpy-directed 2 Days in New York, Rashida Jones, Andy Samberg and Elijah Wood in Celeste and Jesse Forever (co-written by Jones) and Josh Radnor, starring against Elizabeth Olsen, in Liberal Arts, which he wrote and directed.
PREMIERES
2 Days in New York / France (Director: Julie Delpy, Screenwriters: Julie Delpy, Alexia Landeau) — Marion has broken up with Jack and now lives in New York with their child. A visit from her family, the different cultural background of her new boyfriend, her sister’s ex-boyfriend, and her upcoming photo exhibition make for an explosive mix. Cast: Julie Delpy, Chris Rock, Albert Delpy, Alexia Landeau, Alex Nahon.
Arbitrage / U.S.A. (Director and screenwriter: Nicholas Jarecki) — A hedge-fund magnate is in over his head, desperately trying to complete the sale of his trading empire before the depths of his fraud are revealed. An unexpected, bloody error forces him to turn to the most unlikely corner for help. Cast: Richard Gere, Susan Sarandon, Tim Roth, Brit Marling, Laetitia Casta.
Bachelorette / U.S.A. (Director and screenwriter: Leslye Headland) — Unresolved issues between four high school friends come roaring back to life when the least popular of them gets engaged to one of the most eligible bachelors in New York City and asks the others to be bridesmaids in her wedding. Cast: Kirsten Dunst, Isla Fisher, Lizzy Caplan, James Marsden, Adam Scott, Kyle Bornheimer.
Celeste and Jesse Forever / U.S.A. (Director: Lee Toland Krieger, Screenwriters: Rashida Jones, Will McCormack) — Celeste and Jesse met in high school, married young, and at 30, decide to get divorced but remain best friends while pursuing other relationships. Cast: Rashida Jones, Andy Samberg, Ari Graynor, Chris Messina, Elijah Wood, Emma Roberts.
For A Good Time, Call... / U.S.A. (Director: Jamie Travis, Screenwriters: Katie Anne Naylon &amp; Lauren Anne Miller) — Lauren and Katie move in together after a loss of a relationship and a loss of a rent controlled home, respectively. When Lauren learns what Katie does for a living the two enter into a wildly unconventional business venture. Cast: Ari Graynor, Lauren Anne Miller, Justin Long, Mark Webber, James Wolk.
GOATS / U.S.A. (Director: Christopher Neil, Screenwriter: Mark Jude Poirier) — Ellis leaves his unconventional desert home to attend the disciplined and structured Gates Academy. There, he re-connects with his estranged father and for the first time questions the family dynamics. Cast: David Duchovny, Vera Farmiga, Graham Phillips, Justin Kirk, Ty Burrell.
Lay The Favorite / U.S.A. (Director: Stephen Frears, Screenwriter: D.V. Devincintis) — An adventurous young woman gets involved with a group of geeky older men who have found a way to work the sportsbook system in Las Vegas to their advantage. Cast: Bruce Willis, Catherine Zeta-Jones, Rebecca Hall.
Liberal Arts / U.S.A. (Director and screenwriter: Josh Radnor) — When 30-something Jesse is invited back to his alma mater, he falls for a 19-year-old college student and is faced with the powerful attraction that springs up between them. Cast: Josh Radnor, Elizabeth Olsen, Richard Jenkins, Allison Janney, John Magaro, Elizabeth Reaser.
Price Check / U.S.A. (Director and screenwriter: Michael Walker) — Pete is having trouble resolving a happy marriage and family life with rising debt and a job he hates. When his new boss pulls him into the maelstrom that is her life, money and opportunities come his way, but at what price? Cast: Parker Posey, Eric Mabius, Annie Parisse, Josh Pais, Cheyenne Jackson.
Red Hook Summer / U.S.A. (Director: Spike Lee, Screenwriters: James McBride, Spike Lee) — A young Atlanta boy spends his summer in Brooklyn with his grandfather, who he's never seen before. Cast: Clark Peters, Jules Brown, Toni Lysaith, James Ransone, Thomas Jefferson Byrd.
Robot and Frank / U.S.A. (Director: Jake Schreier, Screenwriter: Christopher Ford) — A curmudgeonly older dad’s grown kids install a robot as his caretaker. Cast: Frank Langella, Susan Sarandon, James Marsden, Liv Tyler. SALT LAKE CITY GALA FILM
Shadow Dancer / United Kingdom (Director: James Marsh, Screenwriter: Tom Brady) — Widowed mother-turned-terrorist Colette McVeigh has high-ranking brothers in the IRA. When she’s arrested in an aborted bomb plot she must make hard choices, testing family loyalties. Cast: Andrea Riseborough, Aiden Gillen, Domhnall Gleeson, with Gillian Anderson and Clive Owen.
The Words / U.S.A. (Directors and screenwriters: Brian Klugman, Lee Sternthal) — Aspiring writer Rory Jansen finds another man's haunting memories in a collection of lost stories and claims them as his own, propelling him to literary stardom. Cast: Bradley Cooper, Jeremy Irons, Dennis Quaid, Olivia Wilde with Zoe Saldana. CLOSING NIGHT FILM
DOCUMENTARY PREMIERES
13 Notes: Paul Simon's Graceland Journey / U.S.A. (Director: Joe Berlinger) — Paul Simon returns to South Africa to explore the incredible journey of his historic Graceland album, including the political backlash he sparked for allegedly breaking the UN cultural boycott of South Africa, designed to end Apartheid.
About Face / U.S.A. (Director: Timothy Greenfield-Sanders) — An exploration of beauty and aging through the stories of the original supermodels. Participants including Isabella Rossellini, Christie Brinkley, Beverly Johnson, Carmen Dell'Orefice, Paulina Porizkova, Jerry Hall and Christy Turlington weigh in on the fashion industry and how they reassess and redefine their own sense of beauty as their careers progress.
A Fierce Green Fire / U.S.A. (Director: Mark Kitchell) — A definitive history of one of the most important movements of the 20th century, A Fierce Green Fire chronicles the environmental movement’s fascinating evolution from the 1960s to the present.
Bones Brigade / U.S.A. (Director: Stacy Peralta) — When six teenage boys came together as a skateboarding team in the 1980s, they reinvented not only their chosen sport but themselves too – as they evolved from insecure outsiders to the most influential athletes in the field.
The D Word: Understanding Dyslexia / U.S.A. (Director: James Redford) — While following a Dyslexic high school senior struggling to achieve his dream of getting into a competitive college, The D Word exposes myths about Dyslexia and reveals cutting edge research to elucidate this widely misunderstood condition.
Ethel / U.S.A. (Director: Rory Kennedy) — This intimate, surprising portrait of Ethel Kennedy provides an insider's view of a political dynasty, including Ethel’s life with Robert F. Kennedy and the years following his death when she raised their eleven children on her own.
Something From Nothing: The Art Of Rap / United Kingdom (Director: Ice-T, Co-Director: Andy Baybutt) — Through conversations with Rap’s most influential artists – among them Chuck D, Snoop Dogg, Dr. Dre, Eminem, MC Lyte, Mos Def, and Kanye West – Ice-T explores the roots and history of Rap and reveals the creative process behind this now dominant art form.
West of Memphis / U.S.A. (Director: Amy Berg) — Three teenage boys are incarcerated for the murders of three 8-year-old boys in West Memphis, Arkansas. 19 years later, new evidence calls into question the convictions and raises issues of judicial, prosecutorial and jury misconduct – showing that the first casualty of a corrupt justice system is the truth.
Source: Indiewire

After making a sparkling debut in 2004 with his first feature film the slacker comedy Napoleon Dynamite offbeat writer-director Jared Hess seemed poised for a fruitful career as an earnest more accessible alternative to hipster auteur Wes Anderson. But he stumbled a bit with his sophomore effort the uneven Mexican wrestling flick Nacho Libre despite Jack Black’s desperate mugging for laughs. And he falls apart completely with his latest comedy the crude maddeningly insipid Gentlemen Broncos.
It’s a shame too because Gentlemen Broncos held so much potential. Its trailers promised a lively battle of wits between a pompous sci-fi author played by Flight of the Conchords’ Jemaine Clement and the teenage protege (Michael Angarano) from whom he plagiarized his latest bestselling novel. It could have been Hess’s Rushmore. But what the trailers don’t tell you is that Clement plays merely a supporting role in Gentlemen Broncos and that his character Dr. Ronald Chevalier virtually disappears after the film’s splendid setup. Clement is by far the best part of the film and when he isn’t on the screen the story devolves into an increasingly irksome blend of manufactured quirk and lame sight gags. Hess’s sense of humor has regressed to sub-adolescent levels with Gentlemen Broncos. Defecating snakes breast-puncturing blowdarts and jars of human testicles are just a few of the lowbrow delights that await the brave soul who attempts to make it through a viewing. When Clement returns at the end of the film and mounts a quixotic attempt to rescue it from the mire his heroic effort is sadly for naught: The disastrous fate of Gentleman Broncos was sealed long before.

Dawn (Jess Weixler) has grown up in the shadows of two giant nuclear power plant towers in a suburban American town and as she reaches the ripe age of sexual maturity she discovers that there are teeth in her nether regions. That kind of explains why her stepbrother Brad (John Hensley) has this love/hate relationship with her because as a child his hands wandered where they shouldn't have and he was bitten on his finger. Brad has grown up to be a tattooed sex renegade while Dawn has joined the teen abstinence movement The Promise and is one of their featured speakers. One of the Dawn falls for one of the Promise guys Tobey (Hale Appleman) as they try to resist their teenage passions for each other--to no avail. Yeah it isn’t pretty. Soon Dawn asks a gynecologist Dr. Godfrey (Josh Pais) to check her with equally devastating results. Can Dawn have a sex life without emasculating her admirers? Only the brave dare try. The cast of young actors is relatively unknown partly because director (and former actor) Mitchell Lichtenstein said it was hard to convince any actor to take the part. The girls would have the stigma of being "that girl" with the strange problem and the guys would--for the most part--be known for having their most private parts bitten off. Nevertheless Weixler does an astounding job taking a chance after her stint on daytime soap One Life to Live and a few other minor movie roles. Blonde innocent and with a quirkiness much like Anna Faris in the Scary Movie films Weixler is delightful. She plays Dawn like a bewildered superhero rather than a hapless victim. Likewise Appleman as the good-looking all-American horny teen is quite likable and Pais as the creepy gynecologist is completely hysterical. The guy who steals the show as complete creep however is Hensley (TV’s Nip/Tuck and The Sopranos). He's so evil when he finally gets his remarkable comeuppance (one that you'll talk about for a long time) cheers of approval and groans of disgust will most likely come from the audience. Writer/director Lichtenstein who you might remember from Ang Lee's Wedding Banquet deftly mixes horror and comedy within Teeth. The film is at once dark and frightening as well as being hysterically funny without turning campy. It’s a tall order to fill especially when dealing with a myth that has spanned ancient cultures worldwide and pits guys against their deep dark subconscious fears of castration but Lichtenstein crafts the story by incorporating other teen concerns such as the censoring of drawings of the female anatomy in high school science books and the movement by some teens to pledge themselves to stay virtuous until marriage. The director also knows how to push his actors into dark and uncomfortably humorous situations. All woven together Teeth is a comedic cautionary safe sex tale.